Downloading Salvacion

Word count: 1956

The radiating heat of the noodle soup to my skin reminds me of the last time sunrays caressed it. I was seven then, playing habulan with my friend, Salve, when hundreds of aircrafts came zooming across the sky. They were headed for the town where I left my Nanay (Mother) cooking and my Tatay (Father) checking on the roof of the house. A few minutes after the air feast, tons of nuclear bombs came pouring down from the azure heavens. Next thing I knew, there was fire everywhere and the sky was stark black. I was running for my life, and so was Salve, and there was hardly anything we could do to hold on to each other. By the next second, we were fighting for our lives separately.

The chaos beyond reason, I couldn’t believe my eyes; there were screams and wailing, and people were running in all directions, as if rummaging through whatever could be saved — loved ones, property — no matter how hopeless the scenery looked. When I came to my senses, I tried to look for Salve but I didn’t see her. Little did I know that it would take so long before we would meet again. Black rain poured. From then on, it never stopped.

2064. Seventeen years after the Third World War ended, our country has finally recovered from the abyss the war has sunken it into. The government’s drastic measures proved successful as economic stability has, once again, been attained. By this time, NEOCOM, a local company, is now one of the leading producers of robots and computer electronics in the international market. The influence of the Church of the Novus Via has been stronger and more widespread than ever. Everything seems to have come back to normal. But still this doesn’t change the fact that the war killed my parents and I’ve been alone since then. Aside from my family, there’s another thing the war stole from me. Love. It took Salve away from me.

All these years, I dedicated a considerable amount of my time looking for my long lost love. Several times I tried googling Salvacion Pura, her complete name, on the Internet but failed to find any trace of her. That was until three months ago when I was researching for my thesis in a cyber café at Neo Manila and an advertisement popped up on the computer screen.

WE GLADLY BRING YOU
OUR NEWEST KINKY GIRLS…

SWANNY BELL!
RICKA MARTINI!
SALVACION PURA!
KRISA QUINTO!
SHANA DAYAW!

Download them now and load them up!
Brought to you by Cunt-O, in cooperation with NEOCOM,
The only provider of the PhysicaDownloading technology!

PhysicaDownloading is a new breed of technology NEOCOM introduced to the global market a year ago and it immediately became a hit, especially to those who patronize cyber prostitution. What it does, it lets you download a replica of a person from online with the use of the PhysicaDownloader, a bulky, coffin-shaped device invented by NEOCOM, too. Basically, it works just like your printer. You plug it into your PC, download the replica of a person you want to have and the PhysicaDownloader will “print” him out. But the thing is you will still need the person’s permission to download his replica. Permission before purchase. Well, I heard that the replica will be just like the actual person except that it won’t be able to speak although it can show emotions and imitate gestures. And they can only last not longer than 24 hours. After that amount of time, they disappear. I’m not really acquainted with the whole process but it works pretty much like that. The industry of cyber prostitution mostly benefited from this. Cyber prostitution sites such as Cunt-O integrated this to its system so that customers may download the replica of their favorite prostitute and have her all night, depending on how much they pay – 150,000Php for 12 hours and 300,000Php for a day. Plus you will still have to buy the PhysicaDownloader for more or less 1,000,000Php.

Without a pinch of salt, our economy has become better. But the same, old problems are still here, flooding us – poverty, prostitution, illegal drugs and unemployment. These have been victimizing millions of people around the globe ever since. And I learned that Salve is one of these people.

For three months, I have been working hard to save up. I worked everyday. I worked overtime. I worked for one thing. I worked to download Salve and be with her even just for 12 hours. And tonight, after I finish this noodle soup and finally go back to my apartment, I am downloading Salve with the PhysicaDownloader my boss and friend, Jerico, has lent me.

Upon reaching my apartment, I immediately booted my PC and went to Cunt-O’s website. I quickly browsed for Salve and found that she’s currently the most downloaded model in the site. 1,098,236 downloads in a span of 3 months. All of a sudden, I felt guilt. Then, guilt turned to sadness. How many of these more than a million replicas have been used by their downloaders as sex toys? Probably all of them. I wonder how the real Salve feels now. Is she happy? Or does she feel degraded? How much more are we willing to sacrifice to survive, to get what we want?

For 17 years that I have been alone, I’ve only longed for one person and one person alone – Salvacion. What I have with her is different. It’s something 2 seconds of orgasmic pleasure can’t pay off. Salvacion is my savior. She can save me from getting derailed by the pressures of this world. She can save me from myself, from my loneliness, and my insecurities. She is the only one who can salvage me from this solitary room that I’ve been living in for years now. Life in the metropolis sure is sad I could use a companion even just for half a day. So tonight I’m going to click that button. I am downloading Salvacion.

After typing my bank account number and clicking ‘Enter,’ the downloading of the replica has finally started. Now, I just have to wait for 15 minutes for the replica to be totally “printed out.” While waiting, I dreamed of my chaste childhood with Salve during the war. I dreamed of the verdant fields and lush forests, of our peaceful Nueva Ecija town and its gentle people. The innocent giggles and genuine tears shed by our playmates every time they stumble and fall on their knees while playing patintero by the rice fields.

A sudden, loud beep from the PhysicaDownloader woke me up from my woolgathering. Smoke came out of the inside of the device as its cover slowly opened. After a few seconds, a naked body was standing in front of me.

***
Salvacion stood right on the machine looking as beautiful as I initially thought she would, while I sat on my office chair, astounded. My eyes were completely glued on her. They surveyed the purity of Salve’s body’s fair complexion. The color of her wavy hair reminded me of the sky that day she was taken away from me – stark black; her nipples are proud as the peak of Mount Apo; and her pubic hair, as wild and as untamed as the Mindoro Tamaraw. Her mere presence sent shivers down my tingling spine. At long last! Salvacion!

How I waited for this day is beyond imagination. There isn’t a day Salve didn’t cross my mind. She’s always been there — her sweet, innocent gestures and ladylike smile. I spent my every night thinking what to do one day if I met her again. And then I’d answer myself: I’ll take her back to our innocent childhood years, to the Nueva Ecija fields and smell the breeze of the yesteryears. We will travel back together to the place where we grew up and make her feel my presence; that I am still here for her; and that nothing has changed. I am still the old Rodrigo with the same, old motives. I’ll make her feel that today’s like yesterday. We’ll travel back in time.

But right now, I’m tongue-tied… like all the words I wanted to tell her have faded away and all that I have for her now is this weird sensation I’ve always felt before when I see seductive, young actresses on the television. Where has all the innocence gone?

***
The Church of the Novus Via is a religious sect established by Kanor Illustrator Unus 50 years ago after it has been discovered that the earth isn’t the only planet where life can be sustained. It’s the pivotal point of the history of man as many traditional beliefs were shaken and jeopardized by this great revelation. Novus Via teaches that this discovery is actually a punishment from Tantum Deus for all the wrong doings man has committed and that this will eventually lead to a great universal war between humans and the other living forms of the cosmos that will cause the annihilation of man and the earth he’s living in, or what they call Nil. To prevent this from happening, Novus Via urges man to be contented with the amount of knowledge that he has now and must stop aspiring for more. The religious sect also encourages man to avoid contact with the other inhabitants of the cosmos for this will cause them great danger.

***
Probably it’s the insecurities, or desperation… or the sheer loneliness that I’ve been living in for so many years that pushed me into grabbing Salve’s hand and raping her on my old, worn-out bed. Yes, I raped her and fucked her like I never thought I would. Every move I made on her led me to that elusive 2-second taste of heaven. After the climax, I couldn’t help but cry and shed tears on Salve’s bosoms. I’m sorry, Salve. I thought I was different. Where has all the innocence gone?

While on top of her mute clone, I recited to her the poem I composed inside my head several years ago:

If waiting is a neverending road,
I’m the vehicle, and my love for you
Is my only fuel, will my love run out?
I guess, it will.
And when I finally meet you again,
Will I crave for the only thing
That drives me?
I guess, I will.

How will you know it’s already morning in a place where darkness never fades and the rain never stops? You won’t. So how did I know it was already morning? Salve was fading away. And while watching her face gradually dissolve, surprisingly, I feel nothing. The longing and the sadness had faded away earlier before she — this thing — did. And when she finally vanished, I just… smiled. It was, it seemed then, the only thing I could muster doing. Then, I hear three knocks on my room’s door. I put on my shorts and opened the door.

“R-Rodrigo?”

Am I in a dream, I asked myself. I just saw her disappear in front of me, why is she still here?

“R-rodrigo. It’s me. S-salvacion,” her eyes are all teary and her voice is trembling, “the real one. I just found out that you made a transaction on our website so I immediately asked for your IP address to locate you. I know how improper that is, to ask for your whereabouts, knowing how long we have been separated but I need you to know I’m so glad I – ”

I shut the door on her and took a pack of instant noodles on top of my bedside table. In a few seconds, I’m boiling tap water.